Arena of ValorArena of Valor Announces World Cup 2018, will take place in Los Angeles

As the biggest indication yet that Tencent plans to go all-in on mobiles esports in the West, the company’s Arena of Valor team officially announced that its 2018 World Cup will be taking place in Los Angeles. While no other details have been released on the World Cup at this point other than its location, sources have indicated that the championship will take place sometime in July, and will include a prize pool of at least $500,000. While certainly a big amount of a mobile esport tournament, $500,000 is also the same prize pool handed out at the Arena of Valor Asia International Championship back in November. Given that China already has a massive head start in the Arena of Valor competitive scene, it’ll be interesting to see how this “World Cup” will be structured, and what Tencent plans to do to further promote the game to a western audience.

Arena of Valor/Honor of Kings Generated $1.9 billion in Revenues in 2017

In the grand scheme of things, what’s a measly $500,000 when you game has generated $1.9 billion in Revenues just in this past year?? According to market research firm Superdata‘s Year in Review report, Arena of Valor (or better known as Honor of Kings in China) was the top grossing mobile game in 2017, beating out h NetEase’s Fantasy Westward Journey and Mixi’s Monster Strike by a fair margin. Supercell’s Clash Royale and Clash of Clans finished the year ranking 4th and 5th in revenue generated respectively.

VaingloryEarly access for Vainglory 5V5 has started, pre-launch party coming on February 8th

Meanwhile, Vainglory will be looking to hold its ground as the top MOBA on mobile in the west with the launch of its brand new 5v5 game mode. Described as having the “best graphics & highest frame rates on mobile” and “precision controls that put copycats to shame”, Vainglory 5v5 is currently available to players with “Golden Tickets”, and will be rolled out to all users with update 3.0 in February.

To celebrate the new game mode, Super Evil MegaCorp will be hosting an official pre-launch party on February 8th in San Francisco. At this community-centric event, players will have a chance to play the new 5v5 game mode Sovereign’s Rise ahead of its global debut with Vainglory pro players and casters, as well as meet the devs who will speak about Vainglory’s future plans. Details for the event along with a full schedule can be found here.

BusinessValiance UG acquired bu Kuuhubb Inc.

Followers of mobile esports may have come across an up-and-coming company called Valiance. Led by CEO Antonio Meic and COO Dragana Gucanin, Valiance has been responsible for producing tournaments and events for leading mobile esports titles such as Critical Ops and Clash Royale, and aims to become the #1 platform for professional mobile esports. Taking a big step towards that goal, Valiance has announced that it has signed a term sheet to be acquired by Kuuhubb Inc., a lifestyle and mobile video game applications publisher listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

“The Valiance team is excited to join Kuuhubb because of its global network and reach to accelerate the growth of our mobile esports platform. Our platform replaces current ways of distributing value and managing mobile esports gaming communities. We are developing our product with a continuous involvement of our users and have established partnerships with key stakeholders which are providing us with additional confidence that we are on a right track. Also, our blockchain-enabled PaaS technology is highly customisable and nimble enough to easily integrate and support existing game platforms of highly engaged mobile communities like Recolor,” stated Dragana Gucanin and Antonio Meic, co-founders of Valiance.

Congratulations to Antonio and Dragana – we can’t wait to see what you guys will be building next!